Asparagus

Winter is flying by… I have already noticed fresh asparagus showing up on sale at grocery stores!

I discovered asparagus a few years ago… Having grown up with parents who honestly believe that frozen vegetables have dye added to them, I am a product of a childhood filled with canned vegetables. Fresh vegetables were limited to baby carrots and potatoes- an obvious staple for a South Dakota farm girl.

My first experience with asparagus involved a grill and some balsamic- my life was changed forever.

When I started dating my boyfriend, I was shocked to find out he “hated” asparagus.

A short while later, we visited his parents and his mom was excited to make us some of her freshly-picked asparagus. She proceeded to cut the ends off, then place the fresh spears into a microwave steamer bag. Eight minutes later, we were treated to mushy, stringy asparagus.

I now understood my boyfriends aversion; I left convinced I would change his opinion on asparagus forever.

Fast forward to an evening filled with whining and insisting that he did not want to try asparagus, I finally got him to try a bite.

Fast forward again to this weekend where I made asparagus two times, and both times had to slap his hand away from my plate as he tried to steal some asparagus from my plate!

Long story short, is that asparagus- and any vegetable, really- can be something extraordinary if they are prepared properly.

And the good news?

It is SO EASY to prepare them properly! And HEALTHY, too! (AKA- No more cheese sauce-drenched vegetables!)

Below is a basic recipe I found on epicurious.com to roast asparagus that you will not regret trying if you too, think you don’t like asparagus.